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Hanwha Aerospace to sweeten K9 bid for U.S. Army prototype project with Alabama factory

Published: 01 Apr. 2026, 18:58

CHO YONG-JUN
[email protected]

A K9 self-propelled howitzer in the Middle East [HANWHA AEROSPACE]

Hanwha Aerospace will submit the K9 self-propelled howitzer for the United States Army's prototype bid with a pledge to build a manufacturing facility in Alabama.

The provision is part of Hanwha Defense USA's pending bid for the U.S. Army's Mobile Tactical Cannon (MTC) prototype proposal request.

The announcement was made by Hanwha Defense USA, a U.S. subsidiary of Hanwha Aerospace, on Tuesday.

The MTC prototype proposal seeks to procure a proven self-propelled 155-millimeter howitzer system to support and potentially replace the towed M777 howitzers. The lightweight towed artillery weapon, manufactured by BAE Systems, has been in use by the United States Marine Corps and the U.S. Army since 2005.

The K9 Thunder and its variants are in use by Korea, Poland, Norway, Estonia, Egypt, India, Finland, Australia and Romania, while Turkey developed the T-155 based on K9’s technology. Hanwha also signed deals to export the K9 to Vietnam and Spain.

Hanwha Defense USA Chief Operating Officer and President of Land Systems Mike Smith said the K9 was “born out of war” while stressing that the company’s platform is perfect for the needs of the U.S. Army.

The defense firm also said it plans to build a manufacturing and supporting facility for the howitzer in Alabama, which it hopes to expand further as production efforts increase.

The company’s head of land systems, Jason Park, said Hanwha Defense USA will also look into expanding its U.S. footprint.

“Our U.S. facilities, combined with Hanwha’s global supply chain and production experience in Australia, Poland, Egypt and Romania, form the basis of a proven model of execution. Localization is a habit, not a one-off endeavor,” Park said.

Hanwha Defense USA announced in January that the company will spend $1.3 billion to build a new munitions facility in Arkansas.

Smith, in an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily last year, said the K9 has superiority over competitors such as Germany’s Rheinmetall and BAE Systems Bofors thanks to proven experience in the field, not to mention its price effectiveness and outstanding performance.

“The rate of fire, the magazine depth of the K9, which it can carry 47-plus-one round, and having an automated resupply solution that no one else has — all of those things, when you put them together, deliver a mission cycle time that’s faster than anyone else,” Smith, then CEO of Hanwha Defense USA, said, touting the amount of time a howitzer takes to aim, fire and reload.

“It is Hanwha’s wartime production ethos that is the most valuable offering to the U.S. Army,” the company said.

BY CHO YONG-JUN [[email protected]]